I swear to God that now I will post daily chapters.
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POV: Zane
As soon as I activated the skill Self-Destruct, I immediately returned to my original body in the mountain village. And within seconds, I was back in the body of Clone 16.
"It's done. I'm sure Finn didn't die, but we've probably delayed his plans a bit. Still, I'm certain many members of the Loki Familia were killed."
"Are you sure about that?" Rock Lee asked.
"Yes, I'm sure. But Finn probably isn't far from here."
"You think we can handle him if he's alone?"
"Hmm..." I paused to think.
Finn is strong. Very strong. But all of my clones are on par with Level 4 or 5 adventurers. Most of them are probably equivalent to Level 5s. Since Finn is a Level 6, I don't think I need to worry too much.
Maybe I'm just overthinking it.
"Alright, let's leave this place. We'll set up a base here and take control of this entire floor."
"What do you mean by that?" Ken looked surprised. "You want us to take control of this floor?"
"Yes, I want to control this floor—and the ones below it."
"Is that really a good idea?" Rock Lee asked. "It might be more difficult than it sounds. And I don't think it's even necessary."
"It's not necessary, but I want to have some fun. If I control the dungeon, they'll have no choice but to obey me. If I prove I'm strong enough to take over everything, they'll respect me."
"Ugh..." Akame groaned oddly, and I turned to her.
"What is it?" I asked.
"It's just... you're acting way too edgy. It's weird. You don't need to do all this to earn respect. Just face them head-on and beat them. That's enough."
"Where did you even learn that word?" Did I hear that right? Did she call me edgy?
"Doesn't matter. I just don't think you need to go this far."
"Alright, alright, but I still want to do it. I want to turn this floor into my base."
"Fine, do whatever you want. We'll help you with it."
"Of course you'll help." I laughed. "If you don't, I'll kill you."
All the clones went silent. They didn't say a word as they watched me leave our hideout. I turned around and said, "I'm going to try and locate Finn. You guys explore the 27th floor and report back if any new enemies show up."
The clones nodded, and I disappeared shortly after.
Finn fell toward the bottom of the waterfall. If he landed in the water, he's probably already out and looking for me.
Let's see who finds who first.
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I quickly made my way to the base of the waterfall. There was a large lake, but Finn was nowhere to be seen. Of course, he already left and is hunting me. I wonder if that explosion did any real damage to him.
I know a lot of adventurers died because of the XP spike, but I'm not sure how badly Finn was hurt.
If I had to guess, he didn't take much damage. And if he did, he's probably already used a potion or something to heal up.
I kept searching for a few more minutes but didn't find anything. Luckily, one of the clones contacted me.
[Master, we've located Finn again.]
It was Aizen's voice.
They were the first ones to find Finn's group. Did they find him again?
I took control of Aizen's eyes and saw he was hiding. Beside him were Berserker and Chen. You guys better get out of there.
Just as I said that, Finn's eyes met "mine."
Aizen realized they'd been spotted and clicked his tongue in frustration.
The three of them tried to escape, but Finn caught up to them with ease.
He pointed his spear at them and launched an attack, but all three clones dodged just in time and simultaneously activated gravity magic. Finn was caught off guard.
His body grew heavy, and he collapsed against the rocks.
[Master, we got him.]
All three had maxed-out gravity magic, so Finn couldn't withstand it. He couldn't even open his mouth to speak.
'I'm watching everything.' That easy?
Finn's strong, right? How could he be caught so easily?
That's when, suddenly, Finn began to rise.
"You," he growled, eyes filled with rage.
Aizen, Chen, and Berserker realized this wasn't going to be easy. If they didn't finish him quickly, they would be the ones killed.
"Damn it," I said, and immediately switched places with Chen.
I appeared right in front of Finn, and he noticed it.
"You… You're the original," he said, pointing his spear at me.
"Yeah, I am." I activated gravity magic as well.
"I'm going to kill you."
"You won't if you die first." I dispelled five of my clones and summoned them again.They were all fresh clones—I didn't mind losing them. At my command, they all activated gravity magic.
Despite his strength, skills, and magic resistance, Finn couldn't endure it.
His spear dropped to the ground, and I walked over and picked it up.
"This thing's pretty powerful, huh? Bet it's worth a lot of money."
"..." Finn said nothing. He couldn't even open his mouth.
"Do you remember what I told you last time we spoke?"
"..." Finn glared at me, his eyes full of hatred.
"I said I wanted to explore the dungeon, grow stronger, and have some fun—that I didn't want any trouble. But you all decided I am a enemy. Of course I'll going to fight back."
"You're a monster."
"You know damn well I'm not a monster. I'm human."
"That's a lie."
"Believe whatever you want."
"What are you planning to do?" Finn asked, struggling.
"I really want to kill you." I'm dying to see how much XP I'd get.
But if I kill him now, it won't be any fun.
"Why won't you do it, then?"
"Because I'm not evil… And I want you to deliver a message."
"..."
"I want you to go to Goddess Loki and tell her something."
"What?"
"If she keeps up this manhunt, the Loki Familia will be wiped out in less than a day."
Finn smirked. "You are bluffing."
"No, of course not. I'm just one command away from blowing up the Loki Familia's home. How many members of your Familia do you really trust?" I smiled.
"You…" Finn came to the conclusion I'd hoped for—
That there are spies within his Familia.
Of course, it's a bluff.
There's only Frieren.
'I wonder how paranoid they'll all become. This is going to be fun.'
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Next chapters: Chapter 73 - Suspicion. / Chapter 74 - Fang Yuan is crazy. / Chapter 75 - I don't care if the other Families are decimated.